Families who receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program use fewer discount coupons and allot more money for spending on food than they would without assistance, according to a forthcoming paper in the American Economic Review by Justine Hastings and Jesse Shapiro, professors of economics.

At an event hosted by the School of Public Health Wednesday night, Michelle Forcier, professor of pediatrics and associate dean of medicine at the Alpert Medical School, posed a pertinent question: “How many people in this room experience gender?” Everyone in the room raised their hands.

As a practicing physician, Francois Luks, professor of surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology at the Alpert Medical School, regularly used drawings to illustrate complicated medical concepts to his patients.

It is well known that a person’s environment impacts them in many ways, but researchers have recently found that upward mobility is influenced not only by the city or region where a person grew up, but the exact neighborhood they called home.

At first glance, it could be easy to dismiss a patch in the Guatemalan jungle as just trees and plants. But after extensive analysis of a region spanning more than 2,100 square kilometers, a team of researchers has discovered an expansive ancient Mayan civilization overrun by the surrounding flora.